Éva Székely (3 April 1927 – 29 February 2020) was a Hungarian swimmer. She won the gold medal at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

and the silver medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics, set six world records, and won 44 national titles. She held the first world record in the 400 m individual medley in 1953.

Biography

Székely was born in Budapest, Hungary. Her mother was Orthodox Jewish from Upper Hungary, while her father was a Székeler (Transylvanian Magyar). As a child, she competed for a local swim team and in 1941, at 14 years of age, she set a national speed record, although she was barely allowed to start because she was a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

and was soon was expelled from the team because of her religion. She was excluded from competition for the next four years, and survived

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

partly because she was a famous swimmer. Towards the end of World War II, she lived with 41 people in a crowded two-room “safe-house” in Budapest run by the Swiss, and to keep in shape, every day she ran up and down five flights of stairs 100 times. At the end of World War II she met her husband,

Dezső Gyarmati Dezső Gyarmati (23 October 1927 – 18 August 2013) was a Hungarian water polo player and three-time Olympic champion; he later became the coach of the Hungarian national water polo team. Widely regarded as a "legendary player", Gyarmati was t ...

, a three-time Olympic water polo champion (1952, 1956, and 1964) in

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

; they later divorced and he predeceased her in 2013. Their daughter Andrea Gyarmati, born in 1954, was a backstroke and butterfly swimmer who won two medals at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

. After the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

the family defected to the United States but they did not stay, returning to care for Székely's parents – from then on the Hungarian authorities did not allow them to leave the country in each other's company. Székely won three gold medals at the 1947 World University Games followed by five gold medals at the 1951 World University Championship. She won the gold medal in the 200-meter breaststroke (setting a new Olympic record) at the

, and the silver medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics. She also set six world records, and won 44 national titles. She held the first world record in the 400 m individual medley, in 1953. After retiring from competitions Székely worked as a pharmacist and swimming coach, training her daughter among others. In 1976 she was inducted into the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the s ...

. She was named as one of Hungary’s Athletes of the Nation in 2004, and received the Prima Primissima award in 2011. She was also inducted into the

International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame ( he, יד לאיש הספורט היהודי, translit=Yad Le'ish HaSport HaYehudi) was opened July 7, 1981 in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere arou ...

Death

Székely died on 29 February 2020 at

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, at the age of 92.

Publications

She authored three books, one of which was translated into other languages: * ''Only winners are allowed to cry!'' (''Sírni csak a győztesnek szabad!'') Budapest, 1981, Magvető Kiadó * ''I came, I saw, I lost?'' (''Jöttem, láttam… Vesztettem?'') Budapest, 1986, Magvető Kiadó * ''I Swam It/I Survived'' (''Megúsztam'') Budapest, 1989, Sport Kiadó

References

External links

"Éva Székely; Jewish Holocaust Survivor; Interview language: Hungarian (video)"
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Szekely, Eva 1927 births 2020 deaths Hungarian female breaststroke swimmers Jewish swimmers Hungarian Jews Olympic swimmers for Hungary Swimmers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Budapest Olympic silver medalists for Hungary Olympic gold medalists for Hungary World record setters in swimming European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists in swimming Hungarian female swimmers 20th-century Hungarian women 21st-century Hungarian women Hungarian defectors Hungarian expatriates in the United States Swimming coaches Hungarian sports coaches Jewish sportswomen Székely people

Biography

Death

Publications

See also

References

External links